Travel stories of Columbus

Pizzas Across Columbus, and a Chance to Taste them All

Did you know there’s such a thing as Columbus-style pizza? Everyone thinks that New York and Chicago have the corner on the pizza market, but Columbus has its own niche. Typically, “Columbus-style” pizza is a square pizza (or with pieces cut into squares) with a thin crust. National chain Donato’s – which got its start in town – is known for this style, as is local chain Massey’s Pizza.

But we don’t just eat our pizza Columbus-style here. Our city has a wide range of shapes, styles, and tastes when it comes to pizza. There’s funky and there’s traditional. There’s mobile and there’s sit-down.

You can start out with inexpensive spots like Adriatico’s or A Slice of New York, which offer slices of New York style close the Ohio State campus. These locations have been a favorite of students for years.

Mikey’s Late Night Slice has grown from a food truck and a tiny shack in Short North to five locations total, including spots inside Woodlands Tavern and the Newport Music Hall. Mikey’s is favored for their irreverent pizzas like the Spicy Ass Pepperoni or the Cheezus Crust, which makes a sandwich of two slices of pizza, with melted American cheese between. You can also top their pizzas with their famous Slut Sauce, a secret mix of all of their sauces.

Newer pizzerias like Harvest Pizzeria in German Village, Yellow Brick Pizza in Olde Towne East, and Element Pizza downtown have given pizza lovers new options to try on their pies. At Harvest, you can have everything from clams to chorizo to almond pesto. Yellow Brick offers gluten free options, plus a killer line-up of beers on tap, to go with pizzas like the Oak Street, which includes potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a white sauce. Element tops their pizza with ingredients like house-cured bacon or homemade sausage, or granny smith apples and roasted onions.

You can also find pizza places on the cutting edge of fresh and creative ingredients. Clever Crow Pizza, with locations inside the North Market and Circus Bar, has drawn national attention for their cornbread crusts and ingredients like roasted Ohio corn, butternut squash, and hummus.

Is your mouth watering for a slice now? You can try all of these pizzas and more this Sunday evening, April 15, at Pizza Grand Prix VIII. The event starts at 6pm and is held at Wild Goose Creative, at 2491 Summit Street. Now in its eighth edition, Pizza Grand Prix was originally started by Columbus food blogger CMH Gourmand with ColumbusUnderground.com. The concept is simple: the price of admission is one medium pizza from your favorite spot in Columbus. Show up, share a pizza, sample others, and vote on what you think represents Columbus the best!

Think you make the best pizza? You can also enter the homemade pizza competition. Just e-mail nick@wildgoosecreative.com to enter!